♔♚♔

Did she expect him to carry her cat back for her? This thing was huge–depending on where she lived, he was pretty sure his arms would give out before they got there. Regardless, she didn’t give any time for delay, and he was forced to follow after, doing his best to keep up with this cat in his arms.

Seriously, what did she feed it.

“H-hey, you can’t expect me to carry your cat all the way back to your house, do you?”

﹝ He’s been walking all by himself getting his paws roughed up by the dirty, dainty ground.  Surely you do not want to put him through misery any longer, do you? ﹞

Loathing the fact he had referred to her dearest pet with "it," she groaned. She held herself back from shouting at him, for she knew it would most likely scare the stranger away. Currently, she needed him to get Chéri home safely.

After all, there was no way Celestia Ludenberg would ever carry her cat all the way home all alone. It was just not happening.

   To have the compliments of such an individual as Celestia Ludenberg.. it was quite flattering. 

   Naegi offered a smile. “Thank you,” he said sheepishly, watching the other as she stood from her desk and brushed the fabric of her fancy dress. He always found it to be interesting that she got special permission to wear her gothic lolita at school. Then again, anything was possible for Celes.

She didn't exactly see Naegi as the type to enjoy anything bitter.

Celestia was sure of her memory on the girl's name, but it seemed more polite to ask. Seldom did she ever keep up with models or anything like such, so she had no idea about Junko's popularity. She decided to indulge in small talk for the time being, considering everything the shop sold seemed too boring for her tastes.

Giving him no time to breathe between words, she glared down at him. Everything was said in a mocking tone, making each word more rhetorical than the last. But, she could say with all honesty, she actually had no idea what he was asking. Seriously, what was the deal with what? She only had the vaguest idea of what was being asked of her. Her main assumption was that he was confused on her frequent visits to the certain shop in front of her. However, she figured this couldn't be the reason if he was out this late at night every day to see her in front of that shop. Either way, she needed clarity, but she wasn't sure if he knew how to explain what he was asking. If he kept being annoying about it, she was leaving him without hearing another word.

     As if getting up early on a Friday was the only drag; she had to ride the train all the way to Kairos along with all the rowdy high schoolers. Usually she wouldn’t have minded the situation she was in much, but some of them were giving her quite the headache. Ah, the youth.

     Anna yawned. She had already planned on not getting anymore extra sleep on this train, however, she did not expect to be this bored. It’s only been five minutes and she was already picking at her nail polish. Deciding that talking to someone would probably be the best cure to her extreme boredom, she turned to look at the person sitting cross-legged next to her.

Assuming her actions, she presented herself as an expertise of the sorts. The habit didn’t collide for him to wholly judge the character of another, yet it helped him keep aware of who he was talking to. But despite the disagreement, he didn’t scrunch his face in spite, but kept his manners intact.

「“I’ll get it the next time I visit, then. I wasn’t too worried about buying it immediately. But I won’t forget what you’ve said. I actually think it’d be better if I discussed with them and see what they could do about it.”」

﹝ I do not visit this place in particular very often, but I do visit many shops like this in this area.  ﹞

Compared to other tea shops, this one certainly wasn't the one she visited the most. There was a place in particular that sold her favorite tea for an understandable price. Not like she couldn't afford the more expensive brands, she just knew how to spend money wisely. Unlike the person next to her, she relied on seeing prices for herself rather than the word of someone else. Even though he was a bit stingy, she thought, he seemed intent on keeping his money in his pockets.  Maybe it was time to come clean about how this place wasn't the cheapest in Kairos, considering that she wasn't having fun messing with him anymore.

Work never seemed to stop for the judge, her eyes always wandering from one place to another but what was she to do, she had yet to find an intern who was more than happy to stay with her more than just a couple of months and something in her was nagging her. It was as though she just needed to get this done herself.

And today was no different, running toward the train station, Amar was on her way to the crime scene of another closed case, she was cracking at them making sure she would get to the bottom of them, afterall, the dead needed to rest and she would make sure of it.

Seeing a woman and mistaking her for her new intern she would speak to her:

“You… there… what are you doing you’re 15 minutes late!”

Moving closer to the woman she would realize the other was not the intern she needed as she sighed:

“I took you for another, excuse me”

That didn’t stop him from wandering, though, staring down a game of cards before making his way over to the bar. Maybe a good drink would help clear his head, give him some sort of grounding in this place as unfamiliar as it was. Maybe he’d get lucky and meet someone who could teach him a thing or two about the games that were slipping through his fingers.

He let out a soft sigh, spotting someone shorter at the bar - back towards him. It perked his interest, sliding up beside them (and granted, the one open spot, at that). Kuramochi ordered his drink quick, easy, smooth - he knew exactly what he wanted before glancing to the other out of the corner of his eye.

That was seriously one of the biggest cats he had ever seen.

It was sort of just sitting and staring at him from where it was on the ground, and he couldn’t help but feel a little unnerved by it. Seriously, it was huge. He felt as though he was going to be eaten by it. Though he couldn’t help but wonder who it belonged to–it was definitely not a stray. It wore a collar of sorts and was way too content and well fed. Not to mention when he leaned over to pet it, it didn’t hiss or anything.

Picking it up, he pulled the large cat into his lap, struggling a bit from it’s weight. Wow he hated the fact the next step was to stand up while carrying it. Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet, struggling to hold onto the huge cat a bit, but managing all the same. Looking around, he tried to find someone that looked to be the owner–either by appearance or the fact they were looking for a giant cat. Spotting a girl that fit the bill, he hurried over the best he could, calling out to her once he was close enough.

“Hey–excuse me!”

﹝ Yes, that's Chéri! Aah, thank you, kind sir... It is rare that he walks into the arms of a stranger, so you must not be so awful. Come, now, we must bring him back to my home... It is not that far from here. ﹞

The second she heard someone address her like that, she turned to eye the speaker deadpan. It wasn't the first time around that someone had referred to Celestia's curls in such a manner, and it certainly wasn't the last, but it infuriated her every time. It bewildered her how anyone could somehow not see the beauty in the long, black twin curls. Especially set off by the bows on her head, she saw them as the true beauty ideal. Plus, how could he call her that when his hair looked as if he cut it himself?

     Go shopping.

     And there’s no better places to shop then the really fancy looking clothing stores that had all sorts of styles. If it wasn’t for this one shop, Junko was sure that she would have to alternate all her clothing just to like them. Raising a brow, a familiar set of pigtails catch her eye.

  Oh-so innocently browsing though the shop, picking up a bottle of whatever–he didn’t bother with the names, only the bottles that looked the nicest–and spraying them once into the air as if testing out the scent, he ended up smelling like at least 20 different rich old ladies from France. The employees gave him a questioning look or two, but he just simply flashed them a crooked smile, before quickly disappearing behind a nearby shelf of body sprays.

   Picking up one of the bottles, he wondered why anyone would actually want to smell like cotton candy, of all things, but whatever.

   To the left of him was a young woman with the most amount of hair on one person’s head that he’s ever seen. She had an elegant air about her; radiating confidence so thick that you could almost physically feel it. She also certainly seemed like she’d know more about the fragrance stuff than he did.

 ﹝ I'm not too sure if that smells like anything. All I can smell is grease and flithyness from what seems like someone who hasn't showered in a week. Pray tell, that wouldn't be you, would it? ﹞ Picking up one of the perfume-testing sticks, she shoved it in the dead center of his face. She almost slapped him in the face with it before she realized that it would mean touching his skin with her precious, angelic hands.

   Naegi packed up his things and made his way over to her desk, offering a small smile before lifting out a hand for her to grab onto and stand up from her seat. She was a dainty thing and treating her like a fancy lady always got her into a good mood. It had taken a few tries to get used to, but he treated her like a mistress or something of the sort, she got a bit giddy. (Although it was a controlled type of happiness. She had a really good mask, didn’t she?)

   “Celes-chan,” he said, tilting his head to the side, mirroring the image of a curious child. “Are you okay about being paired with me?” With the hand that wasn’t offered to her, he shifted his bag and sheepishly scratched his cheek. “I’m not too good when it comes to analyzing people and all that..–” He was really good with handling people instead.

Well, it's not like she was lying that bad. Pairing with him had some advantages, including his grades (which she did think were high, but she wasn't sure) and his personality. The best thing about a partner like him was his dedication to the project. Working with someone who actually wanted good grades and would be willing to do all the work to get there was more than helpful, especially on projects like these.  Some people in the class, as smart as they were, would force you to put some effort into the project. How could someone be so low, right? She placed her bag in his hands and smiled back at him, standing and brushing herself off.

At the girl’s reaction, Snowman’s smile could only widen. This was what she expected, after all. She knew Celes too well – the kid would never refuse a challenge, especially when there was a profit involved. The woman could almost see the gears grinding in Ludenberg’s head, working out just how advantageous this would be for her. Moving across the room with the grace only an owner of such an establishment can show, Basilia grabbed two pool cues off the wall and tossed one over to the young woman. 

      “Then let’s play a standard round. I’ll let you go first.”

This was a bit of a risk, but Snowman didn’t care too much. Nobody in the establishment was a better player than her – if anything, Celes would be an entertaining challenge. Setting up the balls in proper order on the rack with deft hands, the tall figure stepped away from the table. 

A crowd had already begun to gather.

She never had the best reflexes, fumbling for the pool cue for about three seconds before she actually caught it. How great, messing up in front of a crowd gathering around her and more importantly, Snowman. She didn't think that Snowman saw the mess-up, as she continued to set up the pool table as if nothing happened, making the fume inside her calm down a bit. Even so, it was taking all her might to keep her from screaming at the woman for tossing it to her instead of handing it. A person with true grace would've handed the cue to her, she thought. Playing a good game was the only way for her to redeem herself.

﹝ Ah, we've gathered a crowd, it is almost as if you’re the queen of this pool table... ﹞

In all honesty, she's never played a real game of pool before. Though she's seen people play and it seemed a game of strategy and luck as much as any poker or mahjong game was. While waiting for an answer, she leaned over the table and prepared to hit the white ball in the center. She thought the angle she chose was beneficial, and decided the amount of force it should take to get the balls in good positions. There was nothing else to do besides hit the ball, which she did before returning to hovering around the table. She smiled at Snowman.

    She had him there.

    “..I’m.. not actually a private eye,” already, he’d stuffed a hand in one pocket, searching for his ID – before holding it up for her to see. He hadn’t wanted to affiliate this moment with the police force, but further lying surely wouldn’t do any good, either. “This just isn’t one of my assignments.” For a moment, Seidou merely gazed at her, already thinking ahead to what consequences he might face for screwing up an investigation, or something worse, even – before he straightened. 

She looked at the ID for a mere split second to understand what he was showing before staring directly at him again. The last illegal thing that Celes might get involved in would be gang activity, though it's not like she was seeing "gossip" as much of a strong basis for questioning. She wasn't all that of authority, but she knew it would be a lie to say that she wasn't the least bit interested in what they were investigating. Playing along with an officer wasn't something new for her, although she might be a little rusty. It seemed the price of easing curiosity was a high one.